When the Hualien Ocean Park (
Like many others in Taiwan's struggling tourism industry, Luo is eager for the government to end a five-decade ban on tourist visits from China -- a move officials say they are willing to try on an experimental basis.
PHOTO: AP
"We think that about 25 percent of our customers will come from the mainland," Luo said, facing the theme park's construction site.
The 381-room Victorian-style hotel will wrap around a ravine, offering views of the Pacific's crashing waves and the city of Hualien when it opens next summer.
The nearby Promised Land Resort is also counting on about 25 percent of its business coming from China, said David Chen, an executive assistant in the project that includes two golf courses, an amusement park and a 750-room hotel complex.
The Taiwanese have long worried that Chinese tourists might actually be spies or saboteurs who would disappear after arriving.
Some Taiwanese, especially pro-independence supporters, fear Taiwan will be slowly absorbed by China or overrun by mainlanders if tourism ties begin.
"It'll be like the attack of the killer ants. How terrifying," said Lee Yung-chih, a history professor at the National Taiwan University.
But these worries are costing Taiwan a lot of money -- funds desperately needed as it tries to restructure its economy. The government now believes the risks can be managed.
This subtropical island would seem to be a natural vacation spot for mainlanders. It's close -- about an hour flight from Shanghai and three hours from Beijing. And both sides speak Mandarin, eat similar food and share the same ethnic-Chinese culture.
"Taiwan can become China's Hawaii," said Wang Ying-chieh (
Many Chinese already know about Taiwan's sights: the mountain range that runs down the island's middle, southern beaches where people can swim year round and Taipei with its popular restaurants.
Chen Yiqing, 27, is one person eager to see Taiwan. The Shanghai advertising saleswoman has already toured Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Now, she wants to see Taiwan's theaters, museums and tea houses.
"Unlike Hong Kong's shopping streets and Thailand's bars, you can feel culture from every corner in Taiwan," Chen said.
Last month, officials drafted a new policy for allowing Chinese tourist visits. Only 1,000 would be allowed to arrive daily, adding up to 360,000 a year -- about 13 percent of total tourist visits, said Su Cheng-tien (
To manage the security risk, the Chinese would have travel with a tour group and stay no more than 14 days, Su said.
Officials hoped to begin welcoming tourists this summer, but there was a hitch: Taiwan insisted both sides needed to discuss such issues as how to handle tourists who work illegally, leave their tour group, overstay their visa or commit crimes.
Beijing has refused to talk to Taiwan until President Chen Shui-bian (
But Taiwan is willing to agree to something less than formal negotiations if tourists first come on an "experimental basis," said Mainland Affairs Council Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Some have speculated the talks might be between tourist associations, but Tsai declined to provide details.
Despite the political stalemate, there's a growing sense that a breakthrough will come soon, and Shanghai resident Grace Wu is getting ready.
Wu, an executive secretary, said, "I've always been curious why Taiwan is more wealthy than the mainland, since the peoples of the two sides share the same traditions and speak the same language."
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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